Posted in: Current News, Editor's Picks TV News, HBO, Movies, Netflix, Showtime, TV | Tagged: cable, HRL, jonathan e. steinberg, old man, samuel l jackson, streaming, television, the old man, thomas perry, tv, warren littlefield

'The Old Man': Samuel L. Jackson Leads Series Adaptation Of Mystery/Thriller

Samuel L. Jackson is finally trying his hand at series television. Jackson has signed on as the lead in The Old Man, a mystery/thriller series adaptation of Edgar-Award-winning author Thomas Perry's recent novel.

Executive producers Jonathan E. Steinberg (Jericho, Black Sails) and Warren Littlefield (The Handmaid's Tale, Fargo), along with production company Fox 21 TV Studios, are currently pitching the series to a number of interested cable networks and streaming platforms. Those rumored to be negotiating for the series include FX, TNT, HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, with a number of offers having already been extended.

The Old Man will focus on Dan Chase (Jackson), an average Vermont retiree and widower with a dark secret that's getting harder to keep. Originally released in January 2017, here's how Mysterious Press describes Perry's novel:

"To all appearances, Dan Chase is a harmless retiree in Vermont with two big mutts and a grown daughter he keeps in touch with by phone. But most sixty-year-old widowers don't have multiple driver's licenses, savings stockpiled in banks across the country, and a bugout kit with two Beretta Nanos stashed in the spare bedroom closet. Most have not spent decades on the run. Thirty-five years ago, as a young hotshot in army intelligence, Chase was sent to Libya to covertly assist a rebel army. When the plan turned sour, Chase reacted according to his own ideas of right and wrong, triggering consequences he could never have anticipated. And someone still wants him dead because of them. Just as he had begun to think himself finally safe, Chase must reawaken his survival instincts to contend with the history he has spent his adult life trying to escape. Armed mercenaries, spectacularly crashed cars, a precarious love interest, and an unforgettable chase scene through the snow—this is lethal plotting from one of the best in crime fiction."

Littlefield has been on a roll lately: executive producing both Hulu's breakout series adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale and FX's Emmy-winning series Fargo, earning a combined 29 Emmy nominations earlier this month. Littlefield bid for and won the rights to Perry's 24th novel, with Steinberg also coming aboard the production to pen the adaptation.

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